Late last month, we brought you word that Pangea Software's next project Cro-Mag Rally was in the beta testing phase. We chatted again recently with Pangea's president Brian Greenstone, and it now seems this kart-style racer is almost 'gold' status! That stands for Gold Master, and means the game has been tested and is ready for production.

Apparently, Greenstone is only waiting on some final music before he declares it GM, which should be this on Wednesday. Once this title does get into production, it will take about three weeks to manufacture, so expect to see Cro-Mag Rally on shelves sometime early in November.

In case you're wondering what the game will be about, think of MarioKart-like racing in a prehistoric setting. The graphics look amazing, of course, but the physics in the game really make it a blast to play. Multiplayer over a local area network will be supported, though there will likely be too much latency for Internet play to work properly. Two people can also play on one computer, thanks to the game's split-screen mode. A demo will be available, and a G3 with at least 6MB of video RAM is required to play. Stay tuned to IMG for more info on Cro-Mag Rally as it heads towards release.